A. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to robots, and more particularly to an autonomous robot for collecting rollable objects and a method for collecting rollable objects.
B. Background
The sport of tennis is a popular and growing activity that attracts millions of participants each year. To improve their skills, tennis players frequently engage in practice drills using a machine or another person. To save time and effort, players often have a large number of tennis balls so that the player may continue to practice without constantly retrieving tennis balls. Although additional balls improve the player's efficiency during practice, the player must later engage in the tedious task of collecting the tennis balls after the practice session.
Similar problems exist in other sports and activities using balls or other handheld objects.
Several devices have been offered to improve the process of collecting tennis balls. Early devices were hand operated and required the player to push the device around the tennis court to collect the balls. Although these devices lessened the burden on the player, the devices still required that the player participate in the collection of the balls.
Robotic collectors have been attempted, but none have been light enough and energy-efficient enough for widespread public acceptance. Although such devices allow the player to rest while the device collects the balls, the devices suffer from numerous defects. First, such devices do not provide a convenient method for players to use the balls after collection. Although such devices use various means to lift and store the ball at a height convenient for later use, these means require significant power to lift tennis balls and would therefore quickly deplete the energy source. As a result, the player must take additional steps after collection to make convenient use of the balls. Second, such devices are not energy efficient. Such devices deploy collection mechanisms that use significant energy to collect the balls, which requires either that the player frequently charge the device or that the system incorporate large, heavy energy sources. In addition, such devices do not necessarily use efficient algorithms for ball location, resulting in the device wasting energy by travelling in inefficient collection patterns.
Consequently, there is a long-felt need in the art for an efficient, light-weight, autonomous ball collection device that provides convenient access to balls after collection.